Painted Pine Cones
I love a good mindless craft. Who’s with me? By the end of the day, my mind is mush. My emotional well-being is exhausted. There’s nothing I want to do more than sit and veg out with an episode of Scandal on Hulu. But, sometimes, my hands like something to do while the rest of me is zoned out. It’s a contradiction of mass proportions. My yard is over-flowing with huge pine cones. I’m kind of enamored with them since I’m used to those itty-bitty pine cones. Clearly, I know my pine cones. Or is it pinecones? Just call me the tree whisperer. The first thing I did was enlist my…
Clever Preschool Art
My son is in 4-year-old preschool or as it is called in Georgia, Pre-K. Let me just say, God bless preschool teachers. Seriously. Bless them for teaching, encouraging and putting up with these young, spirited children. Last week, I thought my son’s teachers really hit it out of the ballpark with the artwork he brought home. Especially during Halloween week when gross and gory is the norm. Perhaps their ideas all came from Pinterest, but I’m still going to give them the credit for pulling it off. How clever is this artwork about the Itsy Bitsy Spider? Why didn’t I think to put a spider ring on a “waterspout” straw?…
Homemade Vanilla Syrup for Pancakes or Milkshakes
A couple of years ago I was rockin’ my ratty yoga pants on a Saturday morning. I was feeling so darn accomplished for being coherent enough (aka fully caffeinated) at 7 a.m. to make pancakes for my children. Let’s face it, Saturday morning cartoons were not created for kids. They were created so parents could sleep in past 7 a.m. So, anyway, I’m up and mixing the pancake batter when I realize we don’t have any pancake syrup. Zip. Zilch. Nada. Well. That was a major downer. They say necessity is the mother of invention. In my case, necessity is the mother of “Google it.” So, I pulled up a…
Happy Halloween
Happy Halloween all you Ghouls and Goblins! Tonight we will be celebrating Halloween with all of our neighbors. Our street does a community dinner followed by the main event – trick or treating, of course! Since this is our first Halloween in Georgia we are excited to celebrate here. We’ve had some fun this week getting in the Halloween spirit. We carved some pumpkins… Trust me, this was just a glamour picture. Once he figured out that you have to actually touch the slimy pumpkin to get the guts out, he let me do the dirty work. So nice of him. We ended up with a ghost and a scary…
Fall Vignette
Do you go crazy with holiday or seasonal decorations? Me? Not so much. I love looking at everyone else’s decorations though and I admire the beautiful spaces they create. Let’s face it…my kitchen table most often resembles a lego factory. Or a toy construction site. Or a Littlest Pet Shop playground. Or a Rescue Bot battleground. You get the point. It requires actual effort to use the table for something crazy like eating. I decided to take a moment the other day to take a couple of quick snaps of our kitchen eating area while the kids were at school. You’ll see the paper pumpkins that I talked about last…
Homemade Hamburger Buns
My entry into the world of bread making has really just begun, but already I find myself falling down the rabbit hole. What type of bread can I make next? Will it taste better than store-bought? Uh…just stop me before I start planting my own wheat, okay? Thanks. One of the bread items I still buy are hamburger buns. My dad visited me recently and brought me hamburger from his farm in Oregon. How cool is that? And yes, it did stay frozen on the airplane. Since I have some yummy meat filling up my freezer, I decided this was a good time to try making hamburger buns. I looked…
Paper Pumpkins
Hello, hello! Earlier this week I briefly showed you a mini-paper pumpkin I made before I decided that my fingers were too big to make more of those pint-sized spheres of cuteness. I do adore it though! That little craft was based on a pumpkin tutorial I used last year to make a whole patch of paper pumpkins using 8.5 x 11 sheets of paper. Seriously, I got addicted and was worried I wouldn’t be able to stop. Can you blame me? The pumpkins mainly survived being packed in a box and trucked clear across the country. They were a little mushed when I unpacked them and some of the tape…
Bracing for Achilles Tendonitis
I should probably issue a disclaimer. This post is not going to be pretty or home-related. There are pictures of my feet. I’m so sorry. There is a happy ending though, so there’s that. If you’ve ever read the “about me” page on this blog (it’s riveting), you’ll see I mentioned something about running, but not being a runner. I do it 3 days a week because it happens to be the most efficient and effective way for me to exercise and I do like how it makes me feel – after. The during part isn’t my most favorite part. Image Credit: Someecards.com What came next really chapped my hide. Last…
Savory White Chicken Chili
There was a day a week or so ago when the temperature felt almost chilly in Atlanta. I even put on my favorite leather boots. I was in my short sleeves and it got a little warm later in the day, especially while hiking back up the hill from the bus stop, but let’s not focus on that. The calendar says it is fall, so I’m running with it. I decided it was time for soup. It’s been so hot all summer that I haven’t made soup in ages. This is a good one too! I like this Savory White Chicken Chili recipe because it is filling, but still healthy and…
